Who has the right to serve plant medicine?
In this eclipse portal, I feel deep, quiet, clear, and absolutely over everything. The rains have come to Peru, and I have moved out of the Valley and into Cusco, which has given me the space I have needed to receive the clarity I have desired. I first moved to Peru in 2012 and found it rather fascinating and a bit disturbing how available plant medicines were for everyone and anyone to partake in. Not because there should be an elitist gateway through which to enter, but because Sacred Earth Medicines, AKA psychedelics, deserve preparation, respect, and integration. It is why they have been passed down through traditions, although just because there is a tradition doesn’t mean everyone within it works in integrity. With that said, I think it is a powerful process to journey with plants on your own to see what reveals itself to you, and just as brave to be dedicated to a traditional path of learning.
I have worked with Sacred Earth Medicines since I was 12, so for 36 years at the time of this writing, in ceremony with Elders and in personal exploration, at raves and ecstatic dances, in Tipis and walks through the woods. I don’t necessarily believe there is one right way, or that it all needs to be done through Elders. In fact, I have sat with Elders and locals who have abused their power in ceremony, creating extremely unsafe conditions. That said, I do feel things are a bit out of alignment, excessive, and slightly delusional. Why, may you ask?
TRADITIONAL VS. PSYCHONAUT
I have lived in the Sacred Valley of Peru for nearly 15 years (ok, there was that 4-year COVID vacation in Mexico where I deepened my relationship with Fungi and Temazcal), and in that time I have seen the “medicine community” blow up with various mixed-medicine retreats, neo-shaman gurus, and indigenous tradition paths all merging into one collective soup of WTF is this? What started as medicine ceremonies by local maestros for healing, then emerged into concerts with any hippie who could hold a tune and play guitar serving psychedelics, has turned into a war between “spiritual people” throwing shade at one another, outdoing the next $4000.00 retreat with breathwork-cacao-yoga-kirtan-qigong-ayahuasca-frog-hapé-huachuma-sweatlodge combos. This psychonaut exploration begs the question: are people really seeking wisdom and spiritual awareness or just getting high? If an indigenious/local person puts on a similar retreat, is it somehow more valid? Or have we all crossed the line?
On one level, I am a you-do-you mentality because who gives anyone the right to tell a person how to walk through life? However, with the increasing number of fires, floods, climate change, and other telltale signs of Mama Earth’s distress with her children (ie., us), I am beginning to wonder if we need yet another time-out to rethink the consumeristic tendencies of our neo-shamanistic desires. When is it enough medicine? And when does the medicine become poison, emulating addiction?
It is often hard to tell the difference in the communities here, as there are ceremonies every day, with people drinking medicine plants multiple times a week for months or years on end. Is this dedication, chasing, or avoiding something? It is common to hear someone say they “need a ceremony” to work something out, which is valid, but when that becomes the only way you can find clarity, and regularly, there is a hidden issue here. Drinking plant medicine every week is not traditional, healthy, or reverent, and it puts a strain on the plants themselves. Working with Medicine is just that: a medicinal approach to communion with Spirit, and a relationship of reciprocity. Not a bio-hacking technique combined with the plants broken down into chemical molecules to be patented by some bro-pharma company. This is the difference between serving medicine and being IN service to medicine.
CHANGING TRADITIONS
I once went to an “Inipi” (Lakota Red Road) style of sweat lodge held by some locals. Great people, really, but one time before we went in, one of the men who helped hold the space was offering spoonfuls of Huachuma (San Pedro) cactus, and another time mushrooms, to random participants. Now, I have been in hundreds of sweat lodges over the last 36 years, and I know medicine can be involved during or after a ceremony. However, offering medicine to people you don’t know, don’t know their history or what they could be on, or know how they will respond in a very hot, enclosed space is not just irresponsible but dangerous. When I brought it up to the leader who I knew, he said it was fine and normal. Really? Since when? I know for a fact this is not a traditional Lakota or Inipi practice.
The problem I have is that there are so many people serving medicines with little experience, or apparent respect, for the culture and lineage it comes from, or even for the medicines themselves. Here was a local Peruvian fine with adding to a tradition from a Northern Tribe because he felt like it. And yet, I have known him to be upset with expats coming into the country serving cactus to people without having a cultural connection. Or let’s say, being in an ayahuasca ceremony, and it breaks into a Kirtan with Hindu songs, although slightly less dangerous, is equally disrespectful to the technology of the ceremonial teachings. I was even in a Tipi Huachuma ceremony complete with Water Drum and Lakota songs that devolved into a musical chairs of randomness, filling the space with chatter and chaos, leaving no room for what a Tipi Ceremony actually is: prayer. Everyone is trying to put their spin on medicine, and to some degree I get this evolution; usually that comes from practicing traditionally and hearing the call as to where to go next, not saying, “you know what would be cool and bring in more people…”. My point is that there is so much mixing of traditions and medicines that the thread of wisdom keeping the tapestry of these practices alive for thousands of years is becoming so thin it is bound to break.
Anything worth learning and sharing with others takes time. Lots of time. Period.
WORKING WITH SACRED EARTH MEDICINES
Working with Sacred Earth Medicines and associated practices requires one to slow down, listen, develop reciprocity, and reverence for the process unfolding. Just because you drink medicine for extended periods of time doesn’t mean that you should serve medicine. This is a hard pill to swallow for many. The journey is the process to trust and learn from, not the destination to be rushed to in order to make your psychedelic millions. Plants require patience, and the practices outside of the ceremonial space are to be integrated into daily life. Being able to receive and sing a beautifully moving Icaro is fantastic, but means nothing if you are crappy to your family or ex-partner, or think you are above cleaning the dishes or cooking a meal.
All of us in these so-called “communities” need to step it up, including Elders and fellow Elders-to-be, to create safety and the spiritual evolutionary awareness we all say plant medicine can provide. Not in a mean, calling-you-out, and embarrassing way, but with integrity and clear communication. Maybe they didn’t know something was unsafe, or perhaps they have a reason, or (more often than not) their ego needs to be checked. Medicine is a heady thing that can drive people to do some harmful and wacky stuff, which is why Elders and community members are so important to stay humble and behind the medicine. I have done this myself, and sometimes it worked out for the benefit of us all, and sometimes I was ostracized for my observations. I have also been checked by people who cared enough about me to share where I was moving off balance, needed a tobacco bath, a dieta, or just a kind talking to. Being open and receptive, in conversation and with humbleness, is what the plants ask of us.
We all have the birthright to work with the Earth; in fact, we should, as She needs us (although not as much as we need Her). This goes beyond the Sacred Earth Medicines, pointing to Right Relationship in how we walk on this planet, engage with all species, our connection to Spirit, and how we honor the Elements. It includes getting curious about where a medicine comes from, what the story is, and where you can learn more, not just so you can put on the headdress and poncho to be a ceremonial leader, but to contribute to the tapestry staying vibrant as the memories are passed down.
Until then, Stay Wild!
August 28th, 2026 - Cusco, Peru
